Meyerbeer recommendations

[yashin]

Can you recommend any operas of Meyerbeer to listen/watch?

I have 2 so far,

1.  Roberto di Diable - the Warren Mok and Patrizia Ciofi cd from Dynamic.  I quite like thi cd but i must admit the story is confusing.  I really need to see it live or on DVD before i can grasp it.
2.  Les Hugenouts - the DVD from Deutsche Oper with Richard Leech as Raoul.  A strange setting but i enjoy Richard Leech in the role.  I must admit to being confused by this work.

These 2 might not be the best examples of Meyerbeers works.  I certainly find them difficult to follow.

What can i listen to next?

[pjme]

I found this website : http://www.meyerbeer.com/

Go to "What's new" and then"The operas of Meyerbeer " - there you will find a synopsis and lots of other information.

Peter

[The new erato]

This record contains some very interesting songs by Spohr & Meyerbeer, as well as Beethoven.



A very lovely record.

[Sean]

Yashin, actually I found some very interesting material in Les Huguenots (or however you spell it), particularly in the ensembles; Le prophete though fits much more in Meyerbeer's reputation as a man of populist and overblown theatricality, with some outrageously self-conscious cliches and formulae. Wagner wasn't alone in his contempt, but as with so many figures, Meyerbeer's not to be written off as having nothing to say.

[Larry Rinkel]

Yashin, actually I found some very interesting material in Les Huguenots (or however you spell it), particularly in the ensembles; Le prophete though fits much more in Meyerbeer's reputation as a man of populist and overblown theatricality, with some outrageously self-conscious cliches and formulae. Wagner wasn't alone in his contempt, but as with so many figures, Meyerbeer's not to be written off as having nothing to say.

But Wagner enormously admired the fourth act of the Huguenots, as did Schumann, Verdi, and Berlioz. The duet for Raoul and Valentine, "Tu l'as dit," was for them the unequivocal high point of Meyerbeer's often equivocal output.

[Sean]

Hey, Larry, I didn't know that!!

[Larry Rinkel]

Hey, Larry, I didn't know that!!

And remember that Wagner learned a great deal about stagecraft from Meyerbeer (as of course did Verdi, in works like Vespri Sicliani and Don Carlo, and Berlioz in Troyens). Bernard Shaw loved pointing out how much of Goetterdaemmerung is like a Meyerbeer grand opera. Though Wagner strongly reacted against Meyerbeer's music after writing that most musically Meyerbeerian of operas, Rienzi, the ultimate source of his hatred stemmed at least as much from Meyerbeer's great popular success in Paris at the same time Wagner was spending his years there living in cold and in penury.

[Sean]

By the way I've also listened to his unaccompanied Psalm 91, and a single song, Komm: again the choral writing is distinguished with unusual even wayward melody and development.

[Sean]

Bernard Shaw loved pointing out how much of Goetterdaemmerung is like a Meyerbeer grand opera.

Well. It may have background influences from a number of directions but I'd certainly never have mentioned such a staggering achievement in the same breath as anything by lowly Meyerbeer.

Though Wagner strongly reacted against Meyerbeer's music after writing that most musically Meyerbeerian of operas, Rienzi

I hadn't really thought of that. Hollreiser's Rienzi is really enjoyable, in an ongoing Italianate kind of way, though the work I'd say lacks Huguenots' range of colour.

[yashin]

There is a gorgeous rendition of the duet from Huguenots with Richard Leech and Pilar Lorengar.  Well worth the look (see link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wfVkGnNnxI

Both are in stunning voice.

[Hector]

And remember that Wagner learned a great deal about stagecraft from Meyerbeer (as of course did Verdi, in works like Vespri Sicliani and Don Carlo, and Berlioz in Troyens). Bernard Shaw loved pointing out how much of Goetterdaemmerung is like a Meyerbeer grand opera. Though Wagner strongly reacted against Meyerbeer's music after writing that most musically Meyerbeerian of operas, Rienzi, the ultimate source of his hatred stemmed at least as much from Meyerbeer's great popular success in Paris at the same time Wagner was spending his years there living in cold and in penury.

Nothing to do with his anti-semitism, then?

[bricon]

Can you recommend any operas of Meyerbeer to listen/watch?

It could be worth investing a small sum on one of Mike Richter's Audio Encyclopaedia CD-ROMs. This disc is totally devoted to 8 complete versions of mature Meyerbeer operas (incl multiple versions of 5). These discs can only be played on computers and the sound is HIGHLY compressed mono, but you will get a very good overview of Meyerbeer's operatic output for a very small sum of money (US$10).

If any of the operas on the CD-ROM pique your interest further, you can then buy a commercially released CD or DVD in better sound etc.

[JoshLilly]

I actually had a Meyerbeer t-shirt, which I wore until it was finally so faded as to be almost unreadable. I'm about as big a Meyerbeer fan as you'll find in these parts! Oddly enough, my favourite of his operas as a whole is one not mentioned yet, Margherita d'Anjou. There are parts in Le Prophete that I like more than anything in Margherita d'Anjou, but for the whole package, it's my favourite. Sometimes you can find the overture by itself on a CD, and it's probably my favourite of Meyerbeer's overtures, too. If you like Donizetti and aren't familiar with Meyerbeer, you might want to check this opera out first. I have a recording on the fantastic Opera Rara label, probably the only studio recording of it ever made. I just love that label!! Pricey but always awesome production quality in every respect.

[Montpellier]

Opera Rara issued three sets - studio recordings but well done given the difficulty of the works: A Croatian in Egypt, Margherita d'Anjou and Dinorah.  Dinorah is also available on DVD (with an exceptionally good performance of the famous shadow dance).

[Wendell_E]

A Croatian in Egypt

Actually, Il Crociato in Egitto translates as The Crusade in Egypt.    Great recording, in any case.

[Larry Rinkel]

Nothing to do with his anti-semitism, then?

Of course. Inadvertent omission. But did the anti-Semitism result from, or contribute to, Wagner's jealousy at Meyerbeer's success?

[Montpellier]

I think he was a bit anti-semite anyway but was intensely jealous of Meyerbeer's huge success in France.  After the poor reception to Das Liebesverbot, Wagner gave up trying to break into the French scene. 

.

[Hector]

Actually, Il Crociato in Egitto translates as The Crusade in Egypt.    Great recording, in any case.

So who wrote 'A Croatian in Egypt' and why?

I love 'Robert le Diable' and the great ending with all the stops pulled out for a midnight wedding. You don't often see that, nowadays!

[pjme]

So who wrote 'A Croatian in Egypt' and why?

Rossini, I suppose - if only he had lived long enough!



Peter

[Wendell_E]

So who wrote 'A Croatian in Egypt' and why?

No-one that I know of, but why not?  OK, composers, here's your chance:

On your mark!
Get set!
Go!

But back to the subject.  In addition to the Opera Rara Crociato in Egitto and the Dynamic Roberto le Diable, I've got the CBS Le Prophète (Horne, Scotto, McCracken, Henry Lewis conducting), the Erato Huguenots (Leech, Pollet, Raphnael), and the DVD of the San Francisco Opera L'Africaine with Domingo, Verrett, and Ruth Ann Swenson.  I like 'em all, Le Prophète's my favorite.